Frank Gore Redux

by David Fucillo on Dec 28, 2006 10:33 AM PST in San Francisco 49ers News

I'd like to continue with the Frank Gore-themed posts and discuss the elephant in the room (well at least in my version of the room), the injury history. It's something I've thought about from the moment we drafted him, but more so this year as his bruising running style has become so much more apparent.

The Rocky Mountain News ran a feature today about Frank Gore and his ability to overcome a checkered injury history. This got me thinking about Gore's future as a 49er. He has yet to be locked up to a long term deal due to the injury concerns and whether he could make it through a whole season. He's clearly proven he can and a long term deal should be just around the corner. However the injuries are still something to be considered along with his tremendous talent (he was Clinton Portis's top backup in 2001 and was ahead of Willis McGahee on the depth chart after 2002 spring practices)

College

Tears his left ACL leading to injury redshirt
Tears his right ACL October 2, 2003 against West Virginia; misses remainder of season
Leaves September 23, 2004 game vs Houston with tendinitis in right knee

NFL

Surgery on both shoulders last offseason
Concussion in 2006 Week 10 victory over Detroit

While I think he is clearly overcoming his injuries, one has to wonder how they will affect him over the next few years, let alone ten years from now. With the average career length just under four years, it is certainly something worth considering. And considering the way the league goes through players and quickly moves on to the next big thing when they have no more use for the previous player, it's an issue worth considering.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Did Gore simply have a run of bad luck in terms of his knees and shoulders that he's finally overcoming? Or will his bruising running style significantly shorten his potential career? I still think he should be signed to a long terms contract ASAP considering the tremendous ability he brings to the table. However, this is certainly a topic worth discussing.

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Gore's injury history

Whether he had bad luck, was injury prone, or a combination of both, its safe to say that he is over it.

He stayed healthy all season despite his physical running style

The injuries are a thing of a past, this guy is the niners future. Its time to lock him up long term

Frank Gore for President.

by InGoreWeTrust on Dec 28, 2006 5:53 PM PST reply actions

It just becomes...

A question of longevity and durability. He is fun to watch and hope he has a long career!

Mile High Report

The Sports Guru

by TheSportsGuru @ Niners Nation on Dec 28, 2006 8:01 PM PST up reply actions

I think

it will always be in the back of my mind, and probably yours too, but I feel like he was so tough this year that I'm not sure I have a reason to believe that it's not in his past.

He's showing me a tough, durable NFL player, and I think I'd like to believe in that despite what history nags me to think.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down... over and over...

by howtheyscored on Dec 28, 2006 11:37 PM PST reply actions

what worries me more

is the tendency to fumble. Hopefully this is just coincidence or bad luck, but it seems like Gore might not be very good at covering up the ball, especially near the goal line. Other backs have had similar problems and worked hard to get better (see barber, Tiki). Here's hoping Gore can improve this area of his game.

Bring back the classic Uni's!

by wjackalope on Dec 29, 2006 3:44 PM PST reply actions

Well

His fumbles declined greatly toward the end of the year. Whether this was because of his own effort or because of fewer short yardage carries is unclear, but it's still heartening.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down... over and over...

by howtheyscored on Dec 30, 2006 11:04 AM PST up reply actions

Gore does have a fumbling issue, but...

I think you're making the same mistake Nolan did earlier in the season by thinking Gore has more problems holding onto the ball at the goal-line just because two of his fumbles happened to have occured there. Because of this, and the fact that Michael Robinson scored 2 one-yard TDs in same game as Gore's second goal-line fumble, they started replacing Gore with Robinson once they got inside the 10. Not coincidentally, that's when the team stopped scoring TDs in the red zone. I like Robinson, but he tends to run to darkness, often taking on defenders needlessly, and had very little success upon gaining the short-yardage role. Once they switched back to Gore a couple of games ago, they've been much more successful in the red zone (with Gore scoring 3 TDs). Gore is the 49ers' best weapon, and he needs to be on the field.

We already know that at this point Gore has a fumbling problem. Just because two of his fumbles happened to occur on the goal-line, it doesn't necessarily follow that this problem is exascerbated there. As they say, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is a trend. At this point, we're only at the coincidence stage.

Once a cobra bit Frank Gore's leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.

by Josh from Hollywood on Dec 30, 2006 10:56 PM PST up reply actions